The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house,the House of Commons,it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London,England. One of the oldest institutions in the world,its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century.
The Peerage Act 1963 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that permits women peeresses and all Scottish hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and allows newly inherited hereditary peerages to be disclaimed.
The Peerage of Scotland is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union,the Kingdom of Scots and the Kingdom of England were combined under the name of Great Britain,and a new Peerage of Great Britain was introduced in which subsequent titles were created.
In the United Kingdom,representative peers were those peers elected by the members of the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of Ireland to sit in the British House of Lords. Until 1999,all members of the Peerage of England held the right to sit in the House of Lords;they did not elect a limited group of representatives. All peers who were created after 1707 as Peers of Great Britain and after 1801 as Peers of the United Kingdom held the same right to sit in the House of Lords.
The House of Lords Act 1999 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the House of Lords,one of the chambers of Parliament. The Act was given Royal Assent on 11 November 1999. For centuries,the House of Lords had included several hundred members who inherited their seats;the Act removed such a right. However,as part of a compromise,the Act did permit ninety-two hereditary peers to remain in the House on an interim basis. Another ten were created life peers to enable them to remain in the House.
Bruce Bernard Weatherill,Baron Weatherill,was a British Conservative Party politician. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons between 1983 and 1992.
Baron Freyberg,of Wellington in New Zealand and of Munstead in the County of Surrey,is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1951 for the prominent military commander Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Freyberg. He served as Governor-General of New Zealand from 1946 to 1952. His only son,the second Baron,was a Colonel in the Grenadier Guards.
Bruce Joseph Grocott,Baron Grocott PC is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom,life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited,in contrast to hereditary peers. With the exception of the Dukedom of Edinburgh awarded for life to Prince Edward in 2023,all life peerages conferred since 2009 have been created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 with the rank of baron and entitle their holders to sit and vote in the House of Lords,presuming they meet qualifications such as age and citizenship. The legitimate children of a life peer appointed under the Life Peerages Act 1958 are entitled to style themselves with the prefix "The Honourable",although they cannot inherit the peerage itself. Prior to 2009,life peers of baronial rank could also be so created under the Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 for senior judges.
Ivon Anthony Moore-Brabazon,3rd Baron Brabazon of Tara,,is a British Conservative politician.
Margaret Alison of Mar,31st Countess of Mar is a Scottish hereditary peer and politician. She was a crossbench member of the House of Lords from 1975 to 2020 and was one of 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the Lords in 1999. She is the holder of the original earldom of Mar,the oldest peerage title in the United Kingdom. She is the only suo jure countess and was the only female hereditary peer in the House of Lords from 2014 to 2020. She is also a farmer and former specialist goats cheesemaker in Great Witley,Worcestershire.
"Tony's Cronies" was a term in British politics and media given to people who were viewed as being given positions of power because of their personal friendships with Prime Minister Tony Blair,during his premiership between 1997 and 2007. These included those granted life peerages and public positions based on their friendship with Blair rather than their individual merits. The phrase was created by the Conservative Party after the 1997 United Kingdom general election and was continually used in the media throughout Blair's premiership.
Alastair John Lyndhurst Bruce,5th Baron Aberdare,,is a British nobleman,and since 2009 a crossbench hereditary Lord Temporal.
Janric Fraser Craig,3rd Viscount Craigavon,is a British peer and chartered accountant. He is one of the 92 hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999;he sits as a crossbencher.
John David James Dalrymple,14th Earl of Stair is a British politician who,since 2008,has been a crossbench member of the House of Lords.
Following the enactment of the House of Lords Act 1999,the number of hereditary peers entitled to sit in the House of Lords was reduced to ninety-two. The Earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain were entitled to sit ex officio;the remaining ninety were elected by all the hereditary peers before the passing of the reform. Since November 2002,by-elections have been held to fill vacancies left by deaths,resignations or disqualifications of those peers. Since the passing of the House of Lords Reform Act 2014,by-elections have also been held to fill vacancies left by the retirements of those peers.
Godfrey John Bewicke-Copley,7th Baron Cromwell,is a British hereditary peer and member of the House of Lords,sitting as a crossbencher.
John Richard Boyle,15th Earl of Cork and 15th Earl of Orrery is a British hereditary peer and a member of the House of Lords,where he sits as a Crossbencher. Boyle was an officer in the Royal Navy and then had a career in the sugar industry before inheriting his titles in 2003.
Jasset David Cody Ormsby-Gore,7th Baron Harlech,is a British hereditary peer and Conservative member of the House of Lords. He has been serving as a Lord in Waiting since September 2022.
